Scissors sharpener



Unite States Patent Office Patented Sept. 23, 1958 SKIKSSORS SHARPENER Granville B. Tompkins and Claude L. Koonce, Coleman, Fla.

Application May 8, 1957, Serial No. 657,825

Claims. (Cl. 51--204) This invention relates to a sharpener for scissors and shears, and more particularly to a small portable sharpener adapted to be held in one hand and while the scissors are held in the other hand for accomplishing the sharpening operation.

More particularly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a sharpener which is so constructed that a pair of scissors can be grasped in a normal manner and a blade thereof sharpened by operation of the scissors in the same manner that the scissors are conventionally operated for cutting.

A further object of the invention is to provide a sharpener by means of which scissors can be re-sharpened to their original bevel.

Various other objects and advantages of the invention will hereinafter become more fully apparent from the following description of the drawing, illustrating a presently preferred embodiment thereof, and wherein:

Figure l is a perspective view of the scissors sharpener, looking toward the top and rear side thereof;

Figure 2 is a bottom plan view of the sharpener;

Figure. 3 is an enlarged cross sectional view taken substantially along a plane as indicated by the line 3-3 of Figure l, and showing portions of a pair of scissors engaging the sharpener, and

Figure 4 is a longitudinal sectional view taken substantially along a plane a indicated by the line 44 of Figure 1, on an enlarged scale and showing the position of the scissors blades relative to the sharpener.

Referring more specifically to the drawing, the scissors sharpener in its entirety is designated generally 6 and inludes an elongated block, designated generally 7, and a sharpening stone, designated generally 8.

The block 7 includes a top 9 which is substantially flat, a bottom to, an outer side 11 which is substantially flat, an inner side 12, and substantially flat corresponding ends 13. A groove 14 is cut transversely through the block 7 substantially midway of its ends and is preferably of a depth substantially greater than one-half the thickness of said block. The groove 14 opens through the sides .1 and 12, through the top 9, and has its bottom disposed near the bottom It), as seen in Figures 3 and 4.

The sharpening or abrasive stone 8 is in the form of a block which is disposed lengthwise in the groove 14 and is secured immovably therein. The upper side or top 15 of the stone 8 is beveled from end-to-end thereof, and said stone has a substantially flat underside 16 which rests flush on the fiat bottom or bed 17 of the groove 14. The thick end 18 of the stone 8 is of a thickness substantially corresponding to the depth of the groove 14 and is disposed fiush with the outer side 11' of the block 7, so that the upper edge of said thick end 18 is disposed substantially flush with the top 9. The other inner side 12 of the block 7 is rounded or beveled downwardly and inwardly from the top 9 and the bottom is beveled as seen at 19 to merge with the bevel of the side 12, as seen in Figures 2 and 3. The other, thinner end 20 of the stone 8 is rounded and beveled to conform to the bevel of the inner side 12 and is disposed flush therewith, as seen in Figure 3. Said inner end 20 of the stone 8 is of approximately one-half the thickness of the outer end 18.

To use the sharpener 6, said sharpener is held in the left hand by the thumb and index finger engaging against the block ends 13 and with the inner side 12 facing to the right or inwardly with respect to the user. A pair of scissors 21 is grasped or held in the right hand in the normal manner in which scissors are held for cutting. With the scissors opened relatively wide, the scissors 21 are moved to the left while the sharpener 6 is moved to the right to position the sharpener between the scissors blades 22 and 23 and with the side 12 and the stone end disposed innermost of the scissors and in close proximity to the inner ends or heel portions of the cutting edges thereof. The blade 22 which is disposed above the blade 23 is positioned with the bevel 24 of its cutting edge resting flush on the inclined top surface 15 of the stone 8 and longitudinally thereof. With the scissors 21 thus positioned relative to the sharpener 6, a pressure is exerted with the fingers of the right hand, not shown, on the handles 25 of the scissors to urge the scissors toward a closed position, in the same operation as is employed for cutting with the scissors, and at the same time the right hand is allowed to yield with the scissors 21 to the right and away from the sharpener 6. Thus, as the blades 22 and 23 are thus moved toward a closed position, the beveled inner edge 24 of the upper blade 22 will slide from left to right along the inclined top surface 15 of the stone 8 and the beveled inner edge 26 of the lower blade 23 will slide along the beveled bottom surface 19, as the scissors slides away from the inner side 12 of the sharpener. In this manner the cutting edge of the upper blade 22 will be sharpened from end-to-end thereof and the sharpening or re-sharpening thereof will conform to the original bevel of the blade. The rounded or beveled inner and thin end 2% of the stone 8 and the beveled bottorn surface 19, disposed therebeneath, will permit the top surface 15 of the stone to engage the inner end of the cutting edge of the blade 22 without requiring that the blades be fully opened. As the upper blade 22 slides outwardly along the upper surface 15 of the stone its beveled edge 24: will be sharpened from end-to-end thereof and until the outer end of said beveled edge 24 is in engagement with the stone surface 15. The operation previously described is then repeated as many times as is required to sharpen the blade 22. The scissors 21 are then inverted and the aforedescribed operation is then repeated for sharpening the beveled edge 26 of the blade 23.

The portions 27 of the side walls of the groove 14 which are disposed above the inclined top surface 15 of the stone 8 function as abutment walls to prevent the blade which is being sharpened from sliding endwise relative to the sharpener 6, out of engagement with the sharpenin g surface 15.

The block 7 may be formed of various materials. If formed of a relatively soft material so that the beveled underside 19 will be cut and grooved by the cutting movement of the blades relative to the sharpener during the sharpening, through contact of the cutting edge of the lower blade with said surface 19, a hard metal plate 23 is secured to the bottom 10 in close proximity to its beveled inner edge 19, so that the cutting edge 26 of the lower blade 23 will contact and slide along an edge portion of the plate 28 to prevent said edge from grooving and cutting away the beveled inner side of the block 7. The plate 28 can be secured to the block 7 in any suitable manner as by prongs 29 which extend inwardly therefrom and may be embedded in the block 7, as seen in Figure 4.

Various modifications and changes are contemplated and may be resorted to, without departing from the function or scope of the invention a hereinafter defined by the appended claims.

We claim as .our invention:

1. A manually supported scissors sharpener comprising an elongated body member having an inner side and'an outer side and including a sharpening stone extending from side to side of the body member and having an exposed top surface inclined downwardly toward said inner side of the body member, said sharpener being adapted to be manually supported crosswise of a pair of scissors with a part thereof disposed between the cutting edges of the seissors blades and with the inner side of the body memher in an innermost position relative to the scissors blades whereby the beveled cutting edge of one of the blades is adapted to be positioned in flush contact with said inclined top surface of the stone for sliding movement along said sharpening surface crosswise of the body member and in a direction away from the sharpener as the scissors blades are swung toward a closed position for causing the scissors and sharpener to be forced away from one another in adirectiQn endwise of the scissors, said body member comprising an elongated block having a transverse groove disposed intermediate of the ends thereof opening through opposite sides thereof and through an upper side of the block, said stone being disposed in said groove, said groove defining side wall portions extending upwardly from the inclined top surface of the stone and between which the blade, which is disposed above the sharpener, is confined to maintain the beveled cutting edge thereof in contact with the inclined top surface of the stone.

"2. A scissors sharpener as in claim 1, said inclined top surface of the stone being inclined endwise of the stone and crosswise of the block, said stone being of approximately one-half the thickness at the inner side of the sharpener as at the outer side thereof and being provided th a bsv st nn a and said block having a t m provided with a beveled inner edge forming a continuation of the beveled inner end of the stone and adapted to be engaged by the cutting edge of the other lower blade during sliding movement of the blades relative to the sharpener in executing the sharpening stroke.

3. A scissors sharpener as in claim 2, and a hard metal plate secured to the bottom of said block and disposed whereby a part thereof is adapted to be contacted by the cutting edge (of the lower blade to prevent said cutting edge of the lower blade from cutting into and grooving said beveled edge portion of the block during the sharpening operation.

4. A manually supported scissors sharpener comprising an elongated block having a transverse groove spaced from the ends thereof and opening through an upper side and a side edge of the block, and an elongated sharpening stone secured in said groove and disposed crosswise of the block, said stone having an exposed substantially flat upper side inclined from end-to'end of the stone relative to the upper side of the block, one end of said upper side of the stone being disposed substantially flush with the upper side ,of the block and the other lower end of the upper side of the stone terminating at said side edge of the block.

5. Amanually supported scissors sharpener as in claim 4, said groove defining side wall portions extending upwardly from the inclined upper side of the stone and adapted to confine a .SCisSOrs blade therebetween with a portionof the beveled cutting edge of the blade in flush engagement with said upper side of the stone from endto-endof the stone.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,324,097 Allen Dec. 9, 1919 2,009,389 Anderson July 30, 1935 2,052,543 Anderson Sept. 1, 1936 2,147,464 Shaw Feb. 14, 1939 

